Faith Healer
by Catwomen
Summary: The cliché of Fire and IceBoth can not be harnessed, both are their own, and both are ruthless. They can claim lives in a seconds, and yet both can help you in the worst of time. What happens when a new year shows Warren that he's not the only one runnin
1. Chapter 1

A/N- :giggles insanely for about 5 minutes before starring blankly out at the readers: . heeello! This is so much fun-writing a 'Sky High' story. It kind of makes me feel special... I'll be completely honest with you-the main reason I'm writing this is because I'm in love with Steven Strait and how he plays Warren Peace. It made me very happy and my family makes fun of me because I've watched the movie about a million times just to see him. . ...on with the story!

Disclaimer-No, I don't own sky high or the characters...no I don't own any of the music I will more than likely use in this story. I only own Payne, and Tancred. I don't own the name Tancred though...just my character. I only sort of own Celine because she was in the movie...she just didn't have a name. She's the ice girl person nods...um...I'm done...

Summary-The cliché line of Fire and Ice-Both can not be harnessed, both are their own, and both are ruthless. They can claim lives in a seconds, and yet both can help you in the worst of time. It is Warren Peace's junior year at Sky High when his past comes back with a vengeance. He quickly realizes how useless it is to run from who you are. The year also brings the cousin of one of his good friends with the same power of ice. What will happen when he finds out he's not the only one running?

Chapter One-Blast from the Past

Warren Peace heard the distinct sound of his alarm clock beeping obnoxiously. He resisted the urge to set it a flame and silence it forever but decided instead to just flip the switch and insure its silence. He stretched and sat up in bed, hearing his back pop loudly in the process. The bright light coming from his open window assaulted his eyes and he struggled to block his view. In his attempt to rescue his vision, his sheets tangled around his waist causing him to fall off his bed with a yelp. He lay on the floor and starred up at his ceiling with a distinct feeling of distain; the new year was already looking _so _promising. He heard a knock at the door and called for whoever it was to enter. His mother walked in and stared down at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Should I even ask?" She asked him. He shut his eyes and shook his head with a smile. She heaved a sigh, informed him breakfast was on the table, and that he had thirty minutes to be at the bus stop. As the door shut, Warren stood up and untangled himself from his bed sheets before walking to his closet. It seemed like only yesterday he was doing this same thing last year-with out falling off his bed. Ah, Sophmore year; the year he met, fought, and befriended the son of the man who put his father behind bars. So much had changed since then. The girl he had danced with at Homecoming quickly become one of his best friends and he went from being the creepy loner to actually part of a group. He felt wanted by someone other than his mother for the first time in a long time and it felt good. The only problem was that his friends hardly knew a thing about him. Sighing, he pulled some random clothes out of his closet and quickly got dressed. Bounding now the stairs, he came to a stop at the kitchen to see his mother had made his favorite breakfast; jook, 'thousand year old eggs' and crab noodles. He quickly ate, kissed his mother good bye, promised to be to the Paper Lantern right after school, and left his house with his back pack on his shoulder and a new book in his hand. The bus stop was quite a ways from his house but he didn't mind much; the walking gave him some time to think, some time to himself. His mother owned the Paper Lantern and recruited him day in and day out to work there so she wouldn't have to hire too many people. Since his father was sent to solitary his mother had to work harder than she had before to keep them on their feet and food on the table. Things had just gotten worse as Warren grew older and his needs became more. Now, Warren saw it fit for him to take care of his mother and the restaurant so that he could ensure a bright future for them both.

The bus came less than a minute after he had arrived and Warren noticed that Celine was not present and vaguely wondered where she was. He walked to the back of the bus and sat down next to one of the windows, starring out absent mindedly. Last year brought around so many changes-drastic changes-and somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered if this year would as well. The bumpy landing of the bus brought him out of his revere as his head hit the window-and hard. He winced and rubbed the second bump on his head for the day and he bitterly glared at the assaulting window. Trudging off the bus, he spotted his group of friends already there and sitting on the steps to the school nonchalantly. He set off towards them, only pausing to growl at a freshman who had stopped in front of him. Okay, so not _everything_ had changed about him and his reputation, but at least he didn't set the kid on fire. He reached his friends and sat down on the step below Will and Layla. Covering his eyes with his hobo gloved hands; he leaned back his head and let out a groan. Will poked him in the side with his foot; a bit harder than he probably meant to.

"What's your problem this morning Sunshine?" He asked. Warren sat up and glared at Will who put his hands up in surrender. Before something venomous and bitter could leave Warren's mouth, Celine walked over and brought her happy demeanor with her.

"Hey guys, I'd like you to meet someone." She said in a cheery voice, pulling a girl up next to her. The girl wore a red long sleeved black stripped shirt, a black corset with embroidered roses and a laced up back, a pleated plaid skirt that fell a little above her knees, black fishnet tights that were cut at mid calf, and a pair of black silk low tops. She had bleached hair and the bluest eyes Warren had ever seen.

"This is my cousin, Payne Sugisaki. She just moved here from Osaka, Japan." Payne waved her hand half heartedly and gave a bit of a smile.

"Payne, this is Will Stronghold, Layla, Magenta, Zach, Ethan, and that's Warren Peace. He's the only one of these kids in our grade." She explained as a side note. Payne nodded slightly.

"So Payne, what's your power?" Magenta asked.

"Same as Celine's for the most part."

"Only Payne can do much more with her power than I can." Celine cut in. Payne rolled her eyes at her cousin.

"That is not-"

"Oh, you're just being modest. Come on, we'll walk you to the gym so you can be placed by Coach Boomer. He's a grumpy guy, but I'm almost positive you'll get hero." She winked at her cousin and pulled her up the stairs as the rest of them followed. Warren was the last to stand so he was the only one to notice a black car a little ways from the buses. Principal Powers was talking to a large looking man and Warren could see the very faint outline of someone in the car. Confused, he proceeded to follow his friends into the school and to the gym. A large group of freshman stood in a huddle in the middle of the gym while Coach Boomer already stood upon his platform. He grinned out at the group of kids as a lion looks at raw meat.

"Students!" he yelled "Let's begin this...exercise so you can all get to your classes and your assigned placement." Everyone looked up at the Coach in awe at his loud voice. He looked back at them, choosing his first victim. His eyes fell upon Payne and a grin spread across his face.

"The new girl eh," he glanced at his clipboard and Warren noticed Payne's eyes widen. "Su...su..ji..suji..oh heck with it-you up here now." The Coach had butchered her name and Warren heard her mutter "Sugisaki" under her breath as she walked up to the platform. She was short compared to the Coach but her demeanor showed she was not intimidated by his loud voice.

"What's your power?" he asked cutting straight to the case. She seemed to resist the urge to roll her eyes and Celine snickered behind her hands and nudged Warren in the side.

"She's got one of the worst attitudes I've ever seen." She whispered to him as he nodded slightly.

"Ice and everything that comes with it." She scantly explained. The coach gave her a skeptical look.

"Show me." She grumbled slightly and made a face while he wasn't looking. Facing her palms downward, she wasted no time for her hands to freeze over and for a sort of frost to expand from beneath her feet and cover the platform. Warren felt a shiver rise up his spine and noticed he wasn't the only one affected by the cold. In fact, it seemed as if everyone else was _more_ affected. He resisted the urge to point that out to Will, whom he still enjoyed out doing, and came to the conclusion of it must be his power. His eyes went back to the platform as Payne held the temperature at a low with seeming ease.

"Is th..tha..that all...you..you can d..d..do?" Coach Boomer stuttered out as he attempted-and failed-to repress his shivers. This time Payne blatantly rolled her eyes and brought both her hands together and slowly pulled them a part. A steaming piece of ice formed between her palms and she tossed it to the coach who dropped it as suddenly as it touched his hands. She then allowed the room to return to its regular temperature.

"Ice and temperature manipulation, ice so cold it burns you-Hero." Coach said as he wrote something down on his clip board. "Oh and Peace," He called causing Warren to momentarily wonder if there was someone else by the name of Peace. "You'll show her to her locker and her classes. Got it?" Warren nodded, a little confused as to why he was chosen to show her around when her cousin stood less than a foot away from him. Payne hopped off the platform and threw an obscene gesture over her shoulder when Boomer wasn't looking. Celine smiled and hugged her cousin as soon as she was in reach.

"I told you! I knew that you would be in the hero's group and where are you? _Exactly_!" She squealed excitedly again and hugged Payne one more time.

"Yeah, they should also put you down as a mind reader." Payne answered sarcastically with mock enthusiasm written all over her face. Celine rolled her eyes and lightly hit her cousin's shoulder.

"Try not to kill Warren when he shows you around; same goes for you Warren, I may have to not mourn either of your deaths. And that would be rather tragic." She said with a wink as she flounced off after the rest of the group. The freshman continued to be placed and Warren started towards the door, walking slowly so Payne could follow. When she came to walk at his side no words were spoken. None were really needed for it was quite clear that neither one of them wished to speak. The funny thing was, Warren could clearly tell how happy this girl was to be where she was and whom she was. It was a unique aspect he didn't see often. She turned her blue eyes to his and blinked a few times before speaking.

"Warren Peace is a weird name." She said simply. "It's sort of like that book, have you read it?" Warren was slightly taken aback, but didn't let it show.

"I never felt the sever need to. Why, have you?" She shook her head.

"If I were you, I would have read it since you practically have the same name. If there was a book called Payne or something like that, I would read it." She seemed to have a moment of realization. "Oh, you must be one of those guys that doesn't pick up a book unless absolutely forced to right? One of those big bad kids who doesn't want to ruin their reputation." Warren glared at her.

"I read more than anyone in this school, thank you very much." He responded with a bit of venom, but he noted it was a playful venom and not quite the 'I _will_ set you on fire if needs be' that he usually possessed. She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

"I believe you I suppose, but you may have a run for your title. I read quite a bit, it's pretty much the only fun thing to do that doesn't involve an idiot or two. Although a few characters are just plain stupid, most times I can tell a good book when I see one." She talked quite a bit and for some unknown reason, Warren didn't mind as much as he usually would. It was a bit unnerving and he wasn't so sure he liked it. He stopped in front of his locker and glanced at her schedule to see which number her's was.

"Would you look at that? Right next to mine, ironic." He stated as he pointed to the lock to the left of his own. She nodded and took the paper from his out stretched hand, attempting to open her locker. His opened with ease and he could clearly see a look of frustrated distain upon her face.

"Book kid, could you give me a hand?" She asked. Warrant rolled his eyes.

"I know you didn't forget my name considering you were just mocking it not to long ago." He replied leaning against his locker. She pulled on the latch and clenched her jaw.

"I know, I just like calling you book kid. I think it's funny."

"You're not going to get me to help you by calling me book kid." She paused for a minute as if in thought.

"Would book _guy_ do the trick?" He started to leave when she pulled on his arm.

"Okay! _Warren_ would you be so kind as to help a poor lass open her locker?" Warren rolled his eyes for what felt like the millionth time that day and snatched the paper from her hand. He than expertly turned the dial and lifted the latch, opening the locker on the first try. He shot her a slightly condescending look and she stuck her tongue out in reply. After lockers and bags were crammed with all sorts of papers and books, the two made their way down the hall for Mad Science III. Payne seemed to glare down at her science book with extreme distain.

"Did you're book offend you?" Warren asked.

"Science and I are not good friends. In fact, we're sort of arch enemies." She explained. Warren shrugged.

"So were Will and I at the beginning of last year. Until we got in a huge fight, I went to the dance with Layla to make him jealous, and then we saved the school. Now we're best pals. Perhaps the same will happen with you and Science." He said a bit jokingly. He could tell she really wanted to say something just as witty as his comment had been but she was held back as Warren opened the door to the class room.

"Mr. Peace! Miss Suji..."

"Sugisaki!"

"Right! You two will be lab partners behind Mr. Stronghold." Warren couldn't help but wonder why he and Payne were forced to be together so much. He chalked down the lap partner's thing to the fact they were the only ones left. Still, why had coach picked him to show her around? He proceeded to make his way to the back of the classroom behind Will and Layla and sat next to the window. The first day back was always stupid. All you did was listen as the teachers droned on and on about the rules and how fighting will land you this much detention, don't blow up bathrooms no matter how entertaining, and how if you blow up your lab partner the detention room will be your new best friend. Every second of the classes that passed caused Warren to feel more and more tired and more and more drained. By lunch all he wanted to do was crawl into bed and not move for weeks on end. He trudged into the lunch room with Payne at his side, rambling on about her evil locker when suddenly she let out a yelp and then nothing more. Warren stopped walking and turned around. The site before him caused him to take a double take.

"Well, well, well what _have_ we here?" Lash sneered, his left arm wrapped tightly around Payne's waist multiple times. Warren wasn't sure how to handle this situation. He couldn't throw and fire at Lash, last time that didn't work out so well, so he went with his next best attribute-indimidation.

"Who was stupid enough to let you two idiots out?" He asked roughly, sauntering over to the pair. Lash grinned darkly and glanced over at Sped.

"We got out for good behavior. Principal Powers approved it and everything-we're back." Sped explained. Warren took another menacing step foreword, hoping Will and his gang of do-gooders would just hurry up and get into the cafeteria.

"Oh and Hot Head," Lash started. Warren raised an eyebrow. "We saw your Daddy up there in solitary. He says he's _very_ disappointed in you." And that's when it happened. Warren felt something inside snap and his eyes burned. He felt his hands ignite and power surge through his veins.

"_Nobody_ talks about my father." He growled. He was vaguely away of the shocked looks on Lash and Sped's faces and the fact that Lash had dropped Payne, who had scurried behind him. Starring at the two idiots, he had never felt such a desire to watch someone burn as he did at that moment. He was raising his hands when he felt a strong grip on his shoulder. He spun around to see Will standing there with an odd look in his eyes.

"Warren, they're not worth it; let it go." his voice is steady but Warren can see just a hint of fear in his eyes. Later, Warren would wonder if that's what caused him to stop the fire on his body and settle for a string of curses and a few obscene gestures at the two. Many would say it was because he didn't want to be seen like his father, many would say he already was. Warren stormed out of the cafeteria and even out of the school to sit on the stairs. He didn't do anything, didn't pull out his book or even kick or light something on fire. He just sat there and stared into the vast openness around the building. He sat there and wondered, sat there and thought, what was this new feeling he felt in his blood and why was his heart pounding so hard in his chest. He was confused and suddenly felt as if he was suffocating yet breathing too much all at the same time. He heard the sound of feet behind him and spun around with a sneer, hoping to scare up some lost freshman. What he got was a weird look from Layla.

"You know how unattractive that makes you look." She stated coming to sit next to him.

"You know how much I don't care." He shot back. She raised an eyebrow at him and he couldn't handle her all knowing gaze.

"I don't know what happened back there alright. He mentioned my father and I lost it." She seemed to contemplate his words.

"You're quite touchy when it comes to your father. I believe that's the same reason you almost killed Will last year."

"I don't want to talk about it Layla, alright. I just...I don't." She held up her hands and nodded. Silence greeted them both and Warren silently wondered where Will was and why he wasn't out here trying to play hero boy again.

"Listen, classes are starting again so you might want to get back inside. Celine's looking for you anyways." Layla stated as she stood. There were never many words to be exchanged between the pair for none were really needed. She respected his closed demeanor and he respected her...well whatever she was. Silently he stood and silently the two entered the building. He saw Celine over by a row of lockers with Payne at her side. She whispered something to her cousin and then walked towards Warren with a motive.

"Warren Franklin Peace!" She yelled. Layla raised an eyebrow.

"You're middle name is Franklin?"

"No! Celine just makes this stuph up."

"It doesn't matter; you have a lot of explaining to do Mister!" She glared at him and he glared back. His eyes held a powerful venom and even she looked surprised.

"Listen Celine, I really _really_ don't want to talk about it right now or preferably ever. So if you could just let it drop and back off before I get really pissed because believe me when I say I am not afraid to get in a fight with you." He growled out and with out a second glance, stormed off in the opposite direction. He couldn't quite understand why he was so temperamental or why he felt the sever need to kill something. Maybe it was because he was so sick of everyone wanting to know what was wrong with him. Did he not have a right to get pissed at people? No one had made a big deal out of him attacking Will because he'd been seen as a bad guy. Did that mean good guys couldn't get angry? His mother got mad though, and no one made a big deal about that. He paused and rested his head against a locker; all this was making his head hurt. Looking down at his watch, he saw it was time for Phys Ed and decided that a nice few rounds of 'Save the Citizen' would be a nice healthy release for his anger. The best part about it was that he couldn't get in trouble for using his powers. He was also very good at imagining either of the two people he was fighting as Lash and Sped. Smirking to himself, he adjusted his backpack slightly and started towards the gymnasium.

-Page Break-

"Mr. Peace, you've put a student in the infirmary. What's your explanation for this?" Principal Powers asked the boy across from her. Warren shrugged his shoulders.

"I was just playing the game; it's not my fault if the kid doesn't know how to dodge." He noticed a small twitch play in the Principal's jaw and he wondered why he hadn't noticed it before.

"Mr. Peace, you understand that this doesn't happen when you're just 'playing the game'. One week of morning detention and you're on parole. One more mess up and we could sure lengthen that time." Warren sat up straight in his chair.

"That's not fair! Stronghold's put kids in the infirmary before and no one says anything!" he shouted.

"Would you like me to lengthen the time? I've made it perfectly clear what your punishment is and you might as well accept it while you've got the chance to get off as easy as you did. You're excused." Warren clenched his jaw as he stood stiffly and stormed from the office. Will, Layla, Celine, and Payne were standing outside the office

"How did it go?" Will asked as they all started walking towards their next class.

"One week detention and I know she only gave it to me because of my father." he grinded out. Will placed a hand on his shoulder and turned him around to face the group.

"It's okay Warren; we all know you're not your father and you won't be your father."

"Yeah, don't worry about all the other people, their opinions don't matter." Layla cut in. It was then, searching his friends eyes that Warren came to a conclusion he never really had understood. It was then that Warren really understood why he hated people talking about his father. And it was then he let them know exactly how he was feeling.

"You don't get it do you." he whispered. They all looked at him with confused expressions on their faces.

"Don't get what?" Celine asked with the light feel of innocence she always carried along. Warren notice that Zack, Ethan, and Magenta had just caught up with them from P.E.

"It's not about me being compared to my father. I'm sick and tired of everyone thinking he was a bad guy." He spoke in a slow and steady voice-the calm before the storm if you will.

"Warren, he was though. He was one of the worse super villains." Magenta tried to reason.

"No, he was not a bad guy. He was my father, and one of the best I've seen. You guys didn't live with him, you didn't know him. You say he was this big bad awful man and he wasn't. Yeah, he made some bad choices, but to be honest I _want _to be like him." He shook his head as he started to turn.

"Of course, the children of Super Hero parents couldn't understand that. All you see is black and white and if that's the case, I guess I really don't belong." With his final words, he walked out the doors of Sky High and away from his friends shocked faces.

He didn't know how long he was outside, sitting in the shade of one of the walls and picking at the grass. He didn't really care that he was skipping class and that he would get a mouth full from his mother. At some point, he heard the sound of feet coming towards him and saw Payne walking to his spot. She sat down with out saying a word and he was not one to instigate the conversation. At least a half an hour passed by before the small girl beside him spoke.

"I get what you mean," she said simply. "My mother was a super villain, one of the worst in Japan. But I loved her more than anything and to be honest, I strive to get some of her traits. She was a good woman; she just may have chosen the wrong side and Peace, if you don't belong than I sure don't either." He turned to look at her, leaning forward on her elbows which were rested upon her knees. It was in that moment that strangers became friends and two 'outcast' children were brought together by the simple fact that they _were_ outcasts.

"You understand you're cutting class on the first day right?" Warren said with a half smile. She shrugged her shoulders.

"I might as well not get their hopes up about me." She said in complete seriousness and Warren felt a chuckle escape his lips with out warning.

"I think this is the start to a beautiful relationship, Sugisaki." He said. She clapped her hands and he raised an eyebrow.

"You got my name right! The first person _all day_!" She explained. Warren chuckled again, an expression of enjoyment he hadn't expressed in quite sometime.

A/N-So what do you all think? Is it up to par? . I hope so because I'm absolutely in love with it. Of course, I love reviews and just to keep you up to date...here's an excerpt for next chapter.

"Ow, Warren get off of me! You are squishing my small body." she whispered.

"Look, it's your fault we're in this mess so stop complaining." He whispered back gruffly.

"Well, can you at least get your stupid boot off my leg?" he smirked in the dark.

"I don't think I will."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N-I'm hoping to get this up as soon as possible because plot bunnies are running amuck. So yes, if I don't let them free my muse might shoot them and then where would we be? My muse is a mean person and sometimes he likes to be stupid...like now. :Grumbles: ON WITH THE STORY!

Disclaimer-Said it. . check the first chapter if you don't believe me.

Chapter 2- You're Fault, you're mess-get us out.

If you were to be standing on the steps of Sky High looking out at the land in front of the building, you would have seen a head peep around the corner and then disappear again. Upon farther inspection, you would have noticed two students sneaking around the walls of their school.

"You've gone here longer than I have and you can't tell me where any secret entrances might be?" Payne asked as she peeped around another corner. Warren shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't frequently sneak into school. I usually use the front door." She waved a finger in his face.

"Yeah so we can get caught and given a million years detention. My Aunt _will_ kill me. She has 'high expectations' for me and I have no idea where she got that idea." She waved her hand to the side before pointing excitedly behind Warren.

"I found it; a secret entrance!" Warren turned around and let his shoulders slump with realization. Turning slowly back to the excited face of Payne he raised a dark eyebrow.

"A vent is your secret entrance? How do you suppose we're even going to fit?" She shrugged as she started bounding off towards the small opening in the wall.

"I _know_ I can fit; us Japan natives are naturally short, don't ask me why. If you can't fit, well you'll just have to force your way through."

"Thanks oh so much." She stuck her tongue out at him and struggled to get the covering of the vent off. Warren created a small fire ball and hit the cover much as he had when they escaped from Royal Pain. He heard her mutter 'show off' under her breath as she easily crawled through the small opening. Eyeing the entrance, Warren wearily followed. Much to his surprise, it was much bigger than he first guessed and he was able to follow with only a few minor incidents of hitting his elbows or head against his metal surroundings. After a few minutes of wandering through the dark and listening to Payne mutter to herself, Warren began to wonder if they would ever get out.

"Payne, you don't know where you're going." He called her out. She didn't even really acknowledge she had heard him but he was pretty positive he heard her growl. Out of no where, she let out a yelp of surprise and grabbed his arm. He was surprised and was therefore not able to hold himself as they both started to free fall. Payne gripped his arm so tightly, he wondered if he was losing circulation and he felt his stomach flip violently as they continued to fall. It probably wasn't as long as it felt (for it felt as if it went on forever, especially when Payne started digging her nails into Warren's flesh in fear) but soon enough they landed-hard. It took Warren a minute to realize that Payne was underneath him and she probably couldn't breathe very well considering he was quite a bit bigger than her. He attempted to roll off but realized that was not a possibly since they were surrounded by what seemed to be walls. He heard her cough and looked downward.

"Problems?" He asked jokingly.

"Yeah, someone is smashing my lungs!" He would have laughed, had the situation not have been so awkward.

"Can't you stand up or something?" She squeaked out. He hadn't thought of that idea yet; might as well give it a try. He put his knees on either side of Payne and pushed up with his arms before bending up ward-and banged his head on what felt like a heavy metal plate. He tried pushing off but it seemed caught or locked. Heaving a heavy sigh, he went back to the position of hovering over Payne.

"The answer would be no. There's a lid or something and I can't get it off; I think it might be locked." He explained. Warren's eyes had adjusted well to the dark and he saw her eyes widen considerably.

"Are you saying we're trapped?" She whispered frantically.

"Yup." He answered.

"And no one knows where we are?"

"Nope."

"So we're stuck here and will probably die because no one knows where we are and thirty years from now, some other unfortunate children are going to stumble upon our rotted corpse's and suffer the same fate!"

"Pretty much, except that by the time the other unfortunate children find us, we'll be bones and dust." She smacked his arm.

"You are _not_ helping." she paused for a minute as if coming to a realization. "I'm going to _die_ a virgin!" She shrieked. Warren wanted to laugh, he honestly did.

"I guess you are, but don't worry; you're not alone in that state." There was a pregnant pause that Payne felt she should break.

"We could help each other out and change that." Warren was sure his eyes were about a million times bigger than they should have been.

"Are you attempting to seduce me while we are trapped in who knows where after we've known each other for less than a day!" She shrugged her shoulders.

"People have done worse. Have you ever heard of prostitutes?"

"I am going to forget we ever had this conversation." He stated factually and silence greeted them once again. It was a while later when Warren felt his arm strength starting to fail. He let his weight off them and came back down on Payne.

"Ow, Warren get off of me! You are squishing my small body." She whispered.

"Look, it's your fault we're in this mess so stop complaining." He whispered back gruffly.

"Well, can you at least get your stupid boot off my leg." He smirked in the dark.

"I don't think I will." She let out a whine that made it sound as if she was being shot and he rolled his eyes.

"You're not dying yet. Sooner or later someone will find us. I'm sure they'll wonder where we are." He reassured. She gazed up at him and for the first time, Warren noticed a slightly scared look in her eyes.

"Do you promise?" She whispered. He nodded silently, not used to so much emotion being shone before him. An idea hit him suddenly that he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of before.

"Listen Payne, I'm going to try to flip us over so you're on top of me. When you are I need you to reach behind you and grab my bag." He explained. "Now I need you to hand on to my shoulders and I'll do the rest." The only answer he got was her putting a tight grip around him, as if in fear of something. He put one are to hold her against himself and used the other to help him roll onto his back with Payne safely on top. She slowly let go and he felt her reach behind and soon felt his bag be added to the load on top of him. Blindly, he groped through the bag until his hand wrapped around his cell phone. He quickly checked the time, seeing that everyone was getting out of school, and quickly dialed Will's number. He could see Payne's excited look in the glow of the phone and it only rang twice before Will picked up.

"Where _are_ you?" He questioned.

"Hello to you too, Hero."

"Warren..."

"Alright, I don't know where we are."

"We?" Layla's voice cut in. Apparently, Will's phone was on speaker.

"Is Payne with you?" Celine's worried voice came next.

"Yeah she is, we were trying to...sneak into the school when we fell down a chute and now we're trapped somewhere below the school I guess. Is there any way Ethan could track our cell signal?" Ethan had claimed he'd been able to do this and now was the real test.

"He says he can, he just needs you to tell us where you went in to...sneak into the school." Warren heard Magenta laugh somewhere off in the distance.

"If you go around to the side of the school you'll see a vent that's been uncovered and that's where we entered." He explained with a hint of annoyance. He heard them all scurrying to the place where he and Payne had begun this whole experience.

"Okay Warren, stay on the phone just a bit longer. The process will only take about 3 minutes and then another little bit to come and find you." Ethan explained. Warren growled.

"Just hurry up popsicle boy." He could imagine Ethan moving a bit faster and heard the distant typing of keys.

"What's going on?" Payne whispered.

"Ethan is going to track us down and get us out. No worries, like I promised." He whispered back. She smiled brightly and her eyes cleared considerably.

"Okay, we got the location. We'll be there in just about two minutes, it's not far." Will explained and then hung up. Warren turned to Payne with a slight smile.

"They'll be here in just a few minutes; they said we're not far. So it should all be okay." He explained. Not a long after, they heard a bang and the lid popped off. Layla and Celine peered in at the two shinning a bright flash light.

"Well, that's...awkward." Celine said plainly. Payne sat up and glared at her cousin with a bit of a growl. Warren slowly sat up and rested his hand on his knees while he waited for Will and Magenta help Payne out. Once they were both on the ground, the group pounced with their questions.

"What were you doing in there?"

"Did you realize you've skipped half the day?"

"Why didn't you call sooner?"

"Are you two hiding something?" Warren growled slightly and fixed them with a glare. Will gave him a strange look back and turned away slightly; their conversation earlier had obviously affected him.

"If you don't mind," Warren started, brushing past the group, "I have a job to get to and I can't miss my bus." He jogged slightly to his bus, wanting to avoid any long and annoying lectures about "How much the group cares about you", about "We don't care about your past", he had had enough of those and he was just ready to avoid. He climbed onto the bus and walked all the way to the back, slouching in his seat and shoving headphones into his ears. The sooner he could get the sound of Assemblage 23 into his head, the better. He relaxed slightly and shut his eyes, hoping that would warn anyone away from him. He just needed sometime to sort through everything, some time to relax so he wouldn't say something he'd really regret.

-Page Break-

"Seriously Payne, what happened?" Payne fixed her cousin with a glare as they entered the house.

"Nothing happened, Celine, nothing interesting anyways and definitely not what I know you think happened." Celine rolled her eyes.

"You're so _boring._ You know Warren is a totally hotty and you don't even go after him!" Payne snorted as she mounted the stairs.

"Please, Celine, not everyone is as boy crazy as you are alright. I'm not looking for some romantic escapade; all I'm looking for is to get past High School and move on with my life." Celine pouted and leaned against the railing.

"But you two would make such a cute couple, and I could _so_ hook you up." Payne opened the door to the room she was staying in and stuck her tongue out at Celine.

"Baka desu yo!" She shouted and slammed the door shut in a huff.

A/N- :faints: Oh my goodness this took forever and a year! Sorry it's taken so freaking long…honestly I didn't mean to. ;; I've just been sooo busy.

Translations: Baka desu yo-she's calling her cousin an idiot.

I'll try for the next chapter…get it up sooner…hopefully…maybe…feed me and give me incentive!


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